


Raising Teddy

by Llaeyro



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Community: rs_small_gifts, Kid Fic, M/M, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Remus Lupin Lives, Sirius Black Lives, Tonks Doesn't, bereavement, fest fic, flangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-20 21:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6026092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llaeyro/pseuds/Llaeyro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse into Remus and Sirius's first few Christmases with Teddy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Raising Teddy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dustmouth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustmouth/gifts).



> For non-UK readers, we call a crib a cot. I have never researched so thoroughly for such a short fic! Thanks go to my lovely cheerleader ImpishInklings and my awesome beta Nazgirl.
> 
> [Read on LJ](http://rs-small-gifts.livejournal.com/203877.html).

**Christmas Day 1998**

“Waaaaaah!” wailed Teddy.

“Filthy half-breeds!” wailed the portrait.

“WAAAAAAAAAAH!!” replied Teddy.

“DIRTY BEAST, FILTHY FLEA-RIDDEN FURBAG, BLOOD TRAITOR, NO SON OF MINE!!” continued the portrait.

It was dark. Streaks of orange streetlight peeked around the curtains and the dull night-light issuing from Remus’s wand on the nightstand didn’t reach as far as the cot against the wall. Remus propped himself up on an elbow to check the time.

2:48am. Urgh.

He pushed the covers aside, rubbing at his bleary eyes and padding over to the cot. As the faint light of Remus’s wand approached, Teddy reached for the rail and pulled himself up unsteadily as he continued to bawl, pointing towards the dresser. Remus had truly had enough of night feeds. All the books stated that Teddy shouldn’t be hungry in the night anymore—that his waking in the night is for attention, comfort or a soiled nappy—but Teddy’s hair never lied.

It’s orange, Remus noted sleepily. He _is_ hungry.

“Hey Teddy,” he said softly, “come on, come here.” The portrait was getting louder and more offensive by the minute. Remus picked Teddy up and perched him on a hip, slowly stroking his back as he softly shushed him. Teddy’s little fists bunched up in Remus’s nightshirt and he rubbed his tear-streaked face against Remus’s shoulder. “Teddy, you want your bottle? Milk?” Teddy answered by pointing again at the dresser. His cries didn’t let up much, so Remus got on with preparing his formula one-handed.

“Here, I’ll hold him.”

Remus started and turned to see Sirius standing in the doorway in his pants. With all the din he hadn’t heard him come down. “I’ve got it,” he muttered.

Sirius sighed and reached out for the baby anyway. “It’ll be quicker with two hands and then the three of us and Mother can all get back to sleep.” He gave Remus a small, tired smile.

“Fair point, but you won’t have any more luck—” Remus cut his sentence short as Teddy’s cries dimmed to hiccuppy sobs the moment he was in Sirius’s arms. Remus’s eyes narrowed but when Sirius looked away guiltily, he chuckled in spite of himself. Remus turned his full attention to the formula and took Teddy back in no time, perching on the bed with Teddy sitting up in his lap, now happily helping himself to his bottle. Sirius shut and spelled the door, dimming Mrs Black’s protests, before sitting along from Remus on the bed.

“You should go back to bed. Molly wants us there early tomorrow, well, today I guess, for Christmas breakfast. I didn’t even know that was a thing.” He yawned.

“Actually,” Sirius shuffled uncomfortably, “I want to talk.”

“It’s 3am… Can it wait ‘til morning?” Remus _really_ hoped it could wait until morning.

“Well, I keep putting it off and changing my mind about saying anything,” Sirius mumbled.

“Okay.” Remus held back the sigh as best he could.

“I’m worried about you.”

He was right to be worried. Remus was a mess, it was true. Sirius had convinced him that moving out would change everything—that it would be easier if they weren’t in that house; surrounded by the furnishings, the ornaments, even the wallpaper that she had picked out. The house they’d chosen together for their family, for their _son_ , just couldn’t feel like home anymore. Remus knew better now. The truth was it didn’t matter where they were. All he had to do was take one look at Teddy and he saw her and it _hurt_. Every little achievement was overshadowed by the fact that she wasn’t there to see it. Every testing, accidental ‘mumumum’ broke his heart.

“You don’t have to be a single parent, Remus. We can do this together.”  
Remus laughed in disbelief, shaking his head, “You know even less about kids than I do.”

“I’m learning, I’ve been reading… I’ve been collecting up things he could choke on and sticking them in the attic, I’ve rounded all the pointy things and corners—”

“Well yes, I had wondered who gave the troll foot a manicure.”

Sirius blushed, but leapt to his own defence, “Well, I—Have you seen the rate that kid can crawl at now? It’s a wonder he hasn’t put an eye out already. And he always bangs everything and just makes as much noise as possible, then laughs his head off when Mother joins in, I’m sure he sometimes does it on purpose. Maybe we can share the night feeds, Teddy can sleep in my room sometimes.”

Remus shook his head, “No, he wouldn’t settle anywhere else.”

“Then I’ll sleep in here.”

Remus raised an eyebrow and smirked, “Are you trying to get into my bed, Sirius?”

“Give over,” Sirius blustered. “Anyway my point is, we can do this. You just have to let me in.” When Remus started to leer at him again, he quickly added, “To _your life_ ”

The noise of Teddy’s empty bottle hitting the floor made Remus start but it was a welcome distraction. It gave him time to think as he shifted Teddy in his lap to reach it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Sirius, he did. Absolutely. Remus just didn’t know if Sirius was responsible enough to truly understand what he was signing up for. Sirius picked up the bottle easily as Remus was reaching for it and handed it over. Teddy tried to grab it again—no doubt to throw it back on the floor if his giggles were anything to go by. Remus placed a light kiss on the top of Teddy’s head, which was now settling back to light brown, and put the bottle on the nightstand before gently rubbing circles on Teddy’s back. Teddy stuck a finger in his mouth and moved it around while he burbled, experimenting with the sound. There was also the fact that Sirius, technically speaking, wasn’t family. They weren’t even a couple. While Remus’s heart told him that was ridiculous—friendship was their commitment—his head insisted that you never know where life’s twists and turns will take you. Just eight months ago, when Teddy was born, he didn’t imagine he would be here; living in number twelve, without Dora.

Remus had hardly registered Teddy yawning in his lap and resting his now dark brown hair against Remus’s stomach. Sirius scooped him up and laid him gently back in his cot. The noise from downstairs seemed to have abated. Remus got up and softly stepped up to the cot, looking down in awe as Teddy’s dreams took hold and his hair shimmered with a mesmerising iridescence—like a rainbow reflected on the sea at night, as Sirius had once tried to describe it. Sirius had also been staring down at the little boy but now gave Remus half a smile. Remus returned it, nodding towards the door in a silent hint that he really wanted to sleep now. Sirius crept carefully to the door but then stopped, looking as if he wanted to say something. Reluctantly Remus stepped closer, anxious not to wake Teddy.

“You can’t carry on like this Moony,” Sirius whispered, “I think—we should get our own place.” His eyes nervously darted across Remus’s features. “What do you think?”

“I think that’s a conversation we should have when you’re not just in your pants, Padfoot.” He smiled fondly as Sirius tried to stifle a chuckle and opened the door.

“But it is a conversation we’ll have?”

Remus nodded and, smiling, Sirius finally padded back upstairs. Remus slid back under the covers, thoughts of Dora and Sirius swimming around in his head. It didn’t help that the full moon was only a week away. Things had been easier with Sirius around—first at the cottage and now here. He was certainly grateful to be back in a bed again rather than sleeping on the sofa. He’d felt silly, sending Sirius in to fetch his clothes, but he just couldn’t bring himself to step into that bedroom. _Their_ bedroom. It would be nice to share out the parenting duties more, but Remus already felt like he was taking advantage of Sirius enough. Mostly, he was just grateful for the company. Maybe he’d underestimated Sirius. Buying a house together was a big step.

Well, he had said he wanted commitment.

 

**Christmas Day 1999**

It was the first Christmas in their new house. Teddy had settled well and now took pride in having his own room to make a mess of. Not that it stopped him from leaving toys absolutely everywhere, of course. Unpacked boxes still littered worktops and room corners, but the Christmas decorations were up—complete with a ward around the tree to stop Teddy from removing all the baubles. Again. Sirius had really gone to town with the decorations after receiving an ear bashing about it from Molly last year.

“Sirius, can you sort the bag?” Remus shouted into the hallway as he fetched the milk from the fridge.

“Where is it?” called Sirius, from upstairs.

Remus set the milk beside the bowl of half-prepared porridge to stick his head out the kitchen door again. “It should be hanging on the back of the bathroom door…” He went back to making Teddy’s breakfast, muttering, “Where it always is…” to himself in mild frustration. That man did drive him up the wall sometimes. He tried to keep himself calm. He knew he’d been getting wound up over petty things recently. He put it down to the stress of the season and tried to convince himself that it had nothing to do with sexual frustration. His bedroom being sandwiched between Teddy’s and Sirius’s just felt too awkward. The fact that Sirius still insisted on walking around the house in just his pants wasn’t helping. When Sirius had escaped, Remus thought his enigmatic charisma had been lost to the Dementors. This year, so gradual that Remus had taken a while to notice the change, Sirius seemed more like the boy Remus had fawned over back at Hogwarts. He had his confidence back, and Remus found it as alluring as ever. This posed a dilemma for Remus. If Sirius wasn’t interested, would they be able to laugh it off and carry on raising Teddy together? He wasn’t sure if it was worth the risk. He decided to collar Harry later and see if he could shed any light on the subject.

“Dada! Dadadadadaaaaaa!” called a small voice from upstairs. Remus sighed as he checked the time; he had hoped Teddy would sleep another twenty minutes at least.

“Sirius—“

“Got it!” Sirius called down. Remus grabbed the strawberries and hoped that Teddy wouldn’t start the day fussy, again—

“NUUUUUUUUU! DADA!” came the high-pitched protest. So much for that. If Teddy wanted Dada, they all knew Sirius had zero chance of getting Teddy out of his cot.

“Uh… Remus…”

“Coming!” Remus darted up the stairs, meeting Sirius at the top. “Is the bag done?”

“Mostly,” he said, poking about inside it.

“Have you got enough nappies?” Remus lifted Sirius’s collar to straighten out his tie.

“Yes.”

“Wipes?”

“Yes…”

“Did you remember—“

“Remus, if you carry on, you can do it yourself,” he held the bag out threateningly, “I just need a few bits from the kitchen.”

“Ok, sorry.” He flipped Sirius’s collar back down and held his hands up placatingly. “When you’ve done that can you finish off breakfast? The porridge is cooling, just need the fruit chopping, it’s already out.”

“On it.” With a quick grin, Sirius bundled down the stairs, “Then I’ll go get Buckbeak ready.”

“Wait, what?!” Remus started half down the stairs after Sirius, who’d stopped at the bottom and turned hesitantly. “Why aren’t we taking the bike?”

“Dada, Dada!”

“Um… I lent it to someone.”

“Sirius, we need it! It’s safer for Teddy. Who did you lend it to?”

Sirius grimaced, “They made me promise not to say anything…”

“Padfoot…” Remus threatened.

“They’re announcing it later anyway! You can find out then.” He folded his arms stubbornly.

“Sirius!”

“Fine! I lent it to Bill! Fleur… can’t Apparate at the moment…”

It took a moment for Remus to process that, but once the penny dropped he couldn’t help the excited grin that spread across his face.

“Don’t you tell anyone!” Sirius pointed his finger threateningly up the stairs at Remus before rushing off into the kitchen. Another baby in the family, finally.

“DADA, DADADADA!!”

Remus stepped into Teddy’s room still smiling and was spotted instantly. The tot starting jumping up and down, holding the cot rail.

“Morning, monkey.”

Teddy furrowed his brow and pointed to himself, “Boy!”

“Yes, monkey boy.” Remus lowered the rail and lifted Teddy to the floor.

“No! Goog!”

“Oh, you’re a good boy?” he raised an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder as he pulled out some festive clothes from the chest of drawers. “Then why won’t you get up for Padfoot?”

“Dadoo.”

“Yes, Padfoot. Why did you shout at him?”

“Bag boy…”

“Are you a bad boy?” Remus smiled playfully as he helped Teddy out of his nightwear.

“No! Dadoo bag!” He shook his head furiously and waved a reprimanding finger towards the door.

“Oh no he isn’t!” Remus laughed, lassoing Teddy’s head with his t-shirt. “Do you know what today is?” He held up Teddy’s Christmas tree jumper for him to see.

“Cheecha.”

“Today is Christmas.” He explained, as the put the jumper over Teddy’s happy-bright-yellow-haired head.

“Dimmas!”

“That’s right, Christmas. Do you know who we’re seeing today?” Remus pulled the changing mat over and patted it.

“Nana Domda?” Teddy asked unsurely, sitting where Remus had patted.

“Yes, Nana Andromeda. Who else?”

“Nana Mody?”

“Yes and Nana Molly. Uncle Harry too.”

“Unger Darry!” Teddy sat up excitedly, Remus only just got the nappy tabs in place quick enough before Teddy was on his feet, bouncing up and down.

“Come on then, let’s get dressed. You can’t go without any trousers on, can you?”

“No!” Teddy giggled.

“Oh wait a minute,” Remus remembered, as he pulled up Teddy’s trousers, “have you said morning to Mummy yet?”

Teddy shook his head and padded over to the little table by his cot. He steadied himself with his hands up on the edge as he wobbled on tiptoes to place a wet kiss on the glass of the picture frame. He looked into his mother’s eyes, so like his and, without Teddy even realising it, his hair took on Dora’s bright pink shade as it did every morning. “Hi Mumma,” he smiled, before running out the room and waiting at the top of the staircase.

Remus picked up the frame, spelled the glass clean and lingered a moment over the photo, watching himself and Dora, beaming, looking from the camera down to Teddy and then back to each other. Teddy was only hours old, he looked more blanket than baby. He gently placed the picture back on the table, turning it to face the cot.

“Merry Christmas, Dora.”

 

**Christmas Day 2000**

Remus took the last half-empty plates of leftover-turkey sandwiches through to the kitchen. Molly was wrapping more leftovers for the fridge while Sirius directed the plates into the sink.

“Oh, thank you dear,” Molly smiled fondly, “did he go off alright?”

“Yes. Well, he tried refusing to sleep until Dadoo told him the Christmas poem again.” Remus replied.

“No chance,” Sirius grinned over his shoulder. “The Night Before Christmas should only be read on the night before Christmas.”

“I sang him Eastenders instead, he was out before the end of the first verse.”

“What’s Eastenders?” Molly asked, brow furrowed.

Sirius laughed, “It’s a Muggle T.V show. Dora liked the song they play at the beginning, so she used to sing it to Teddy when she carried him.” Molly gave a reserved, sympathetic smile.

“It’s called ‘Anyone Can Fall In Love’. He’s never managed to stay awake past the second verse, which is good as that’s as far as I learnt from Dora,” Remus chuckled, at which Molly’s smile became more authentic.

“Go on now, go put your feet up both of you. You’ve had a busier day than most with that one running around your feet.” She shooed them towards the living room none too softly, ignoring their protests and desire to help.

It was quiet in the living room. Arthur had gone to bed, as he had to be up early for work in the morning to sort out the mess of magic-tampered muggle gifts. Hermione had gone home for similar reasons, dragging a very reluctant Ron behind her; His protests of “But the boss is still up!” while he pointed accusingly at George, falling on deaf ears. Bill and Fleur had gone to bed early, as they would be up in the night for Victoire’s night feeds. Harry and Ginny were curled up on the double seater together under a blanket, Ginny absently turning her engagement ring as they watched the fire. George sat in an armchair beside the tree, so Remus and Sirius settled beside each other on the sofa. As Remus sat, he started to feel the aching tense muscles of a day spent on his feet. He stretched and relaxed back into the cushions.

Harry leant his head back to look over his shoulder at them. “That kid sure has got a lot of energy.”

“Tell us about it,” chuckled Sirius, “you wait ‘til he gets the hang of his metamorphmagus abilities. You think he’s a handful now…”

A tray floated into the room laden with pots, cups and plates of biscuits, followed by Molly. “There’s tea, coffee and hot chocolate, help yourselves!” They thanked her as they dug in. “Sorry to be another party pooper but it has been rather a long day.”

“You’re old Mum, we get it,” George mumbled around the custard cream in his mouth, “we’ll let you off this time.” Molly frowned and lightly cuffed him on the back of the head.

“It’s a well-deserved early night Molly,” Remus said, raising his tea to her, “thank you for everything today and sleep well.”

Molly made her way around the room, kissing her family goodnight. When she had gone, they sat quietly for a while, nibbling biscuits, sipping tea and watching the fire or the fairies on the tree.

“So, you two shagging yet?”

“George!” exclaimed Ginny, looking mortified.

Remus barely registered her response. He had sprayed his mouthful of tea everywhere, spilt half of the remainder of the cup over his lap and stood up with a yelp and a rather silly dance. Sirius had his wand out and Remus’s lap became dry, cool and soothed as Sirius took the tea from him and placed it back on the tray. Remus looked accusingly to Harry—the only person whom Remus had confided his feelings for Sirius in. Harry did look sheepish.

Remus turned to Sirius to offer an explanation, not sure what he was going to say but it didn’t matter. Sirius was glaring at George. It was a deathly glare.

“You wanker,” he said through gritted teeth, “I told you that in confidence.” He jabbed an accusatory finger in George’s direction. He dropped his head, sighing and pulled his fingers through his hair, turning to Remus. “It’s fine, I know you’re—however long you need, I understand.”

“Hang on, hold on a minute,” Remus couldn’t quite believe what was unfolding, “you’re telling me that for over two years, we’ve been living together, raising a kid and dealing with all the crap that comes with that—we’ve practically been a married couple, without any of the benefits of actually being a couple… For no reason. I didn’t think you were interested!”

“I didn’t think you were ready for a relationship!”

Sirius stared at him in disbelief, but Remus just laughed. “What did you expect, a fanfare? A big sign above my head that read, ‘Yes, now, go for it!’” He smiled fondly and Sirius gave a shy smile back as a blush rose to his cheeks. Remus suddenly felt rather conscious of their audience; he dropped his voice and leant closer, Sirius leaning in too. “I didn’t know, how to tell you. I didn’t want to make things, weird—if you didn’t feel the same.”

When Sirius looked up at him, Remus was surprised at how close he was. He tried to look around, at George, Ginny and Harry, but Sirius’s hand was on his cheek before he’d glanced further than the fireplace. The hand gently guided his gaze back to Sirius, then Sirius’s lips were against his and Remus stopped worrying about anything else. He barely registered Ginny ushering George and Harry out of the room.

“The lube’s in the top drawer next to the bed!”

“George! For Merlin’s sake…”

They laughed against each other’s lips, foreheads resting comfortably together.

“So, now to the benefits?” Sirius asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Parents with benefits, that’s a new one.”

Sirius laughed and kissed him again. Remus was glad, he didn’t want to talk. He just wanted to enjoy Sirius, now and beyond—the best Christmas present, thanks to George and Harry’s meddling.

Remus couldn’t wait to see what the next year would bring.

 

**Christmas Day 2001**

“Dada, watch me!” called Teddy across the garden.

“I’m watching,” Remus replied, waving briefly before stuffing his hands back in his coat pockets. Remus looked over his shoulder as he heard the crunch of boots in the snow behind him. He smiled as Sirius’s head appeared on his shoulder, giving Remus a quick peck on the cheek before looping their arms together. Harry had bought Teddy a toy broomstick for Christmas and they watched from a distance as Harry helped him to scoot around the garden. Teddy barely had to touch a foot down anymore, he nearly had it.

“Dadoo!”

“Uh oh, I’ve been spotted,” Sirius joked. Teddy could say Padfoot now of course, but they’d decided to stick with Dadoo; it made them sound more like a family. “Way to go, kiddo!” he called, flashing Remus a grin. “Hey, Moony… I’ve been thinking—“

“Don’t strain yourself, Padfoot.” He received a gentle elbow in the ribs.

“Having _one_ kid is great and everything…”

“Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” _Please be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting_ , Remus thought. He couldn’t stop the hopeful smile from creeping onto his face.

Sirius beamed back. “Let’s adopt.”

_Fin_


End file.
